The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama

by Jane Austen, Claire Foy (Narrator), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Narrator)

Sense and Sensibility - narrated by Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Austen introduces us to the Dashwood sisters who upon the death of their father are left with little money or status and without their family home. Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her

Directed by Celia de Wolff. With Bessie Carter, Anya Chalotra, Josh Dylan, Robert Glenister, Paterson Joseph, Emma Mackey, Hattie Morahan, Carl Prekopp, Blake Ritson, Lesley Sharp, Fenella Woolgar, Nicolas Armfield, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Lily Cooper and Tom Glenister.

Pride and Prejudice - narrated by Claire Foy.

Pride and Prejudice is centred around the Bennet family, their five unmarried daughters and their mother’s desperation for at least one of them to make a wealthy match to save the family from destitution. When Charles Bingley moves into Netherfield, a nearby estate, it seems that Jane, the eldest daughter, may have found her match, but it also introduces our heroine Elizabeth to Bingley’s friend, the aloof Mr Darcy.

Directed by Nicolette Chin. With Tarrick Benham, Nicole Davis, Barnaby Edwards, Billie Fulford-Brown, Rebecca Front, Emma Gregory, Ferdinand Kingsley, Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Tim McInnerny, Heather Nicol, Sarah Ovens, Janet Prince, Jenny Rainsford, Jennifer Saayeng, Sam Stafford, Katy Sobey, Homer Todiwala, Patience Tomlinson and Simon Yadoo.

Mansfield Park - narrated by Billie Piper.

Adopted into the household of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, Fanny Price grows up a meek outsider among her cousins in the unaccustomed elegance of Mansfield Park. Soon after Sir Thomas absents himself on business, Mary Crawford and her brother, Henry, arrive at Mansfield, bringing with them London glamour and the seductive taste for flirtation and theatre that precipitates a crisis.

Directed by Tamsin Collison. With Matt Addis, Lucy Briers, James Corrigan, Scarlett Courtney, Rosalind Eleazar, Jennifer English, Emma Fielding, Ash Hunter, Joel MacCormack, Harry Myers, Esme Scarborough, Lucy Scott, Bert Seymour and Natalie Simpson.

Emma - narrated by Emma Thompson.

Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing however delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.

Directed by Katherine Thompson.

Isabella Inchbald played Emma Woodhouse, and Joseph Millson played George Knightley.

With Alexa Davies, Joanne Froggatt, Adam Gillen, Rupert Holliday-Evans, Isabella Inchbald, Aisling Loftus, Anjella Mackintosh, Joseph Millson, Ukweli Roach, Morgana Robinson, Nicholas Rowe, Benjamin Wainwright, Eve Webster and Ria Zmitrowicz.

Northanger Abbey - narrated by Emma Thompson.

A coming-of-age tale for the young and naïve 17-year-old Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey takes a decidedly comical look at themes of class, family, love and literature. Revelling in the sensationalist - and extremely popular - Gothic fiction of her day, the story follows Catherine out of Bath to the lofty manor of the Tilneys, where her overactive imagination gets to work constructing an absurd and melodramatic explanation for the death of Mrs Tilney, which threatens to jeopardise her newly forged friendships.

Directed by Katherine Thompson.

Starring Emma Thompson as the narrator.

With Douglas Booth, Robin Brown, Gunnar Cauthery, Anna Chancellor, Lily Cole, Beth Goddard, Nickolas Grace, Jeremy Irvine, Carla Mendonca, Ella Purnell, George Rainsford, Simon Shepherd, Emma Thompson, Eleanor Tomlinson, Lorraine Ansell, Naomi Felton, Bethan Rose Young as Anne Thorpe and Joanna Ruiz.

Persuasion - narrated by Florence Pugh.

Anne Elliot, daughter of the snobbish Sir Walter Elliot, is woman of quiet charm and deep feelings. Eight years before our story begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret.

Directed by Emma Hearn. With Annabel Baldwin, Michael Fox, Julian Wadham, Laure Stockley, Lizzie Stables, Oscar Batterham, Ewan Bailey, Samantha Béart, Andrew Wheildon-Dennis, Al Weaver, Tom Andrew, Molly Harris, Martha Mackintosh, Vineeta Rishi, Isabel Adomakoh Young and Sophie Aldred.

Genres: Audiobook, Classics, Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, Drama

45 pages, Audible Audio

First published November 5, 2020

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.

The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only had time to listen to Persuasion on this collection. It was rearranged and produced... as almost a TV/movie adaptation with just sound - like the old radio shows. It was so amazingly well done. The sound effects, dialogue, murmuring in the background when conversation is around them, etc...it truly felt like a movie for my ears. I loved it.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sense and Sensibility narrated by Gugu Mbatha-Raw ~ 5 stars
Story: 4 stars
Adaptation: 5 stars
Narration: 4.5 stars
+: absolutely loved the narration and voice acting, especially Hattie Moran and Blake Ritson as the horrible Fanny and John Dashwood
-: Edward and Col. Brandon sounded rather dull (as they are, but still...)

Pride and Prejudice narrated by Claire Foy ~ 2 stars
Story: 2 stars
Adaptation: 3 stars
Narration: 2 stars
+:
-: lackluster voice acting all around

Mansfield Park narrated by Billie Piper ~ 4 stars
Story: 3 stars
Adaptation: 4 stars
Narration: 4 stars
+: Billie Piper's audible joy, the perfectly despicable Crawfords
-: Fanny sounded either petulant, bratty, or hysterical to me. Edmund also sounded really dull (as he is...)

Emma narrated by Emma Thompson ~ 4 stars
Story: 2 stars
Adaptation: 5 stars
Narration: 4 stars
+: Emma Thompson's delightful narration, stellar voice acting all around
-: Mr Elton's voice really annoyed me
full review


Northanger Abbey narrated by Emma Thompson ~ 3 stars
Story: 5 stars
Adaptation: 4 stars
Narration: 3 stars
+: Douglas Booth as John Thorpe
-: Emma Thompson's much too rapid narration sometimes left little time to appreciate the wit and snark of the story; I didn't like the sound of my beloved Henry Tilney here
full review

Persuasion narrated by Florence ~ DNF
Story: 5 stars
Adaptation: 3 stars
Narration: 2 stars
+: Sir Walter, Elizabeth, and Mary sounded perfectly awful
-: I couldn't listen to one of my favorite books being read with so little emotion. I felt the narrator just couldn't convey emotions with her voice. Also didn't like the sound of Frederick. Changes made to the plot like Sophie knowing about Frederick and Anne did not work for me.

[Jultri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sense and Sensibility - 3/5 stars.
Excellent narration and acting all around. I first read this story as an impressionable young woman probably about 25 years ago or more, and I was suitably impressed back then. Not quite in the same league as Persuasion and P & P, but still quite superior in writing to most. This time around, I'm listening with a far more critical mind that is outraged by how easily the men (Willoughby and Edward) were forgiven by Marianne and Elinor, who both came up with excuses after excuses for the men's piss-poor behaviours and betrayals. They readily forgave these weak, amoral and faithless weasels while directing their ire at the other women. These OWs were not the one who seduced and and made pledges that were not or could not be kept. The only man who acted with any sense of decency was the Colonel, although he did not possess much more sense than the sisters, panting after a chit young enough to be his daughter, who did nothing to encourage his amorous attentions. There are some astute and amusing moments but all in all, the weak main characters dragged this book down.

I'm planning to work my way through the other productions slowly.

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of audiobooks is quite spectacular, using a combination of narration and dialogue to bring Austen’s work to life. I love Jane Austen with an unreasonable passion, and I have read and re-read her novels many times, but this is the first time I tried audio adaptations. I was fairly apprehensive as I tend to struggle with audiobooks, but these were all superbly acted and wonderfully narrated. A perfect Christmas read, which brought me more comfort than I can express.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this on my walks. Really well done, with a lot of name actors. I found it interesting to see how it diverges from recent film adaptations. The narrator in "Northanger Abbey" was hilarious, made me laugh out loud.

[Jennifer Bolton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sense and Sensibility ☑️

[Rhys Causon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall: I did not expect these to be dramatised versions with multiple actors and so was a bit disappointed that I completely misread what the collection was. A set of Adaptations not the original work and so these mostly became background noise most of the time.

Sense and Sensibility: Not my sort of story but I imagine people who like romance would enjoy it.

Pride and Prejudice: better than the first story because I enjoyed the main story and characters more. Aside from Lydia... I do not care for Lydia.

Mansfield Park: Long and slow to start then everything that does happen in the plot seems to happen all at once near the end. Have to say that I was surprised by Billie Piper’s narration as well mainly because I always forget how her actual voice sounds having only seen her in stuff like Doctor Who and Penny Dreadful.

Emma: Felt a bit too slice of life for a class I’m not part of so I couldn’t really get into it. Though Emma Thompson is so far the best of the narrators for the prose sections.

Northanger Abbey: Austen could have easily been a great Gothic author if she had wanted to be, even if this was a parody of gothic literature at the time, sections of this were brilliantly written. Once again, Emma Thompson is clearly the best narrator in this collection.

Persuasion: Florence Pughe just sounds like she’s reading not telling you a story but the dramatised parts of this one don’t seem as melodramatic as previous stories so it’s a weird balance.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of Jane Austen's six novels, each audiobook is narrated by a cast of voice actors. I listened to...

Pride and Prejudice (2022): what an absolute joy! I was already familiar with the story from the 2005 film and the original book but this was a great way to revisit it. The cast of narrators was such a delight and really bring their own feel to the adaptation. Listening to this while tucked away in my sleeping bag was a 10/10 experience.

Sense and Sensibility (2023): see above, except I did not listen to this one while camping

Mansfield Park (2024): it even made me enjoy Jane Austen's least popular novel!

Persuasion (2025)

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jane Austen, and the Audible Originals voice acting is incredible. I’ve been relistening to all of the novels over the last few weeks, and it was a great way to revisit all my favorite heroines. If you haven’t dived into the world of Jane Austen, this is a great option. It’s an incredibly well-produced and well-performed piece audio theater.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I’ve become more of an audiobook listener in the past couple of years, I don’t have a ton of listening time and end up basically listening to them while I’m cooking or cleaning, so I’m shocked that it only took me a little over a month to finish a 45 hour audiobook! I was definitely hooked. While I usually don’t go for abridged books (this was a scripted for audio performance) all of the novels were done really well. I really enjoyed hearing all of Austen’s characters come to life, from Mr Knightly’s “badly done, Emma!” to Frederick Wentworth’s love letter to Anne. The whole thing was excellent! I also recognized a lot of the performers (like Joanne Frogatt from Downton Abbey!) which was cool and their performances were excellent. Highly recommend.

[Patricia Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Persuasion
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Laurie • The Baking Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook collection features six of Jane Austen's popular works and caught my attention on Audible.ca because it was a free download.

Free audiobooks? Yes please!

So I snapped it up and chose to listen to Pride and Prejudice, a book I had read years ago and wanted to get reacquainted with again.

Narrated by Claire Foy (she of The Crown fame), this audiobook was more of a dramatized audio theatre than a standard audiobook. There were various actors performing as well as the addition of background sounds and murmured voices in the background etc. But I didn't love the hollow sound of this production and thought the sound effects were more distracting than beneficial to the story. Fortunately, it didn't take long to get used to this format and I soon fell into the lives, loves and wittiness of the Bennett family.

The other books within this collection are: Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to Persuasion—narrated by Florence Pugh.

Directed by Emma Hearn. With Annabel Baldwin, Michael Fox, Julian Wadham, Laure Stockley, Lizzie Stables, Oscar Batterham, Ewan Bailey, Samantha Béart, Andrew Wheildon-Dennis, Al Weaver, Tom Andrew, Molly Harris, Martha Mackintosh, Vineeta Rishi, Isabel Adomakoh Young and Sophie Aldred.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persuasion was good too! Felt like Florence Pugh's narration was a bit flat, but I had also just come off of two adaptations narrated by Emma Thompson, the Queen of Narration.
I would recommend Sense and Sensibility and Emma from this collection. They were my favorites. You can get them individually from Audible.

[Shanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mansfield Park - 3.5 stars

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the narration of the different characters and witty style of this audio book performance! Loved every story.

[Paula Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

5th Feb - 9th Feb:
Sense and Sensibility:
An entertaining experience listening to this full cast adaptation, narrated by Gugu Mbatha Raw. Excellent escapism. Some super annoying super selfish characters, though. 4 stars.

10th Feb - 13th Feb:
Pride and Prejudice:
A wonderfully entertaining experience listening to this full cast adaptation, narrated by Claire Foy. Excellent escapism. The characters and plot of this book are so much more engaging than those in Sense and Sensibility. 5 stars.

[Carly Tait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skipped Mansfield Park though whoops

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Audible collection is superb! Emma Thompson, Billie Piper, Florence Pugh, Claire Foy, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw do a marvelous job at narrating, as you would expect. The production of each story is smartly done, really adds more interest to these classic stories, and because they are so well acted--it brings a new freshness to a story that we have all read more than once. I highly recommend listening to this collection, especially if you've never read Jane Austen and want to get your toes wet.

Jane Austen is always the perfect companion when March comes, and Spring arrives. Her stories are full of romance, Spring, overcast-sunny days, meadows, and a breezy aesthetic. It's comforting.

[Tuesdayschild · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think if I had not been familiar with all the stories in their unabridged format, some of the literary delight that comes with hearing Austen's stories read, or acted out, would be missing.
These radio dramas were a Christmas-y time pleasure to listen to.

[K.L. Beckmeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jane Austen, rewritten for radio and stripped of subtilty. It goes without saying that I prefer Austen's prose, but for some who prefer commentary spelling out the significance of each detail laid atop Austen's stories, this would be perfect.

[Melissa Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

She’s DONE IT! Just a cheeky 45 hours of pomp and propriety. I loved it, it’s just a shame that they’re abridged to make them full cast.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the reasons many people don’t like this collection are the reasons I *do* love it. When I was younger I read and loved Pride and Prejudice. Afterwards, I attempted many times to get into Emma and Sense and Sensibility… but found the opening few chapters dull and full of a string of characters that were hard to keep tabs on. These audio collections are abridged, so they didn’t feel quite as heavy. They also had spectacular narrators in Claire Foy, Emma Thompson, Florence Pugh, and more, and voice acting and effects (music, sounds) that often made it like listening to a movie. I find this quite enjoyable, and not distracting as other reviewers seem to find it.

I would have finished this weeks ago - I burned through some of the books, but the last one was painful. Now having heard them all, here is my personal ranking of Jane Austen novels I have read/listened to:

1. Pride and Prejudice - lovely as always. I spent the week watching the Keira Knightly film and Colin Firth miniseries after so I could feel like I was still listening to it.
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. Northanger Abbey - JA’s first written and last published. I enjoyed the gothic satire of this novel. It was so different than all the others so it stood out.
4. Emma - Emma is mean.
5. Mansfield Park - Fanny is a wildly unlikeable character. Probably my least favorite in any JA book. She’s prudish and judgmental. Bleh.
6. Persuasion - this is the one I got stuck on. God I thought it was so boring.

Final thoughts:
-Most of the women in JA novels are mean and catty. Perhaps because they didn’t have much else to do back then?
- I outright laughed at some of the conversations about age and gender roles. S&S in particular has a really wild convo about age compared to what we know and believe now!

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a DELIGHT. Free on audible, it’s 6 Jane Austen novels read by a cast of characters ft. sound effects like closing doors and horse clops (like a radio show). It is slightly adapted so does it count as reading them?? Idk but I loved it and it was on goodreads so I thought I’d mark it.

Only reason it’s 4 not 5 is because (love Jane Austen), but it’s basically the same story recycled 6 times. Spoiler: There’s always a scoundrel running off with a woman from Bath with a 10,000 pound dowry haha.

My breakdown of each book:

Sense and Sensibility 4⭐️ (love the sisterhood but don’t get why they don’t talk to each other about how they really feel, although that might be the point).
Pride & Prejudice 5⭐️ (always been a favorite)
Mansfield Park 3.5⭐️ (I like how it ends but the 19th century is showing: Fanny is the “perfect” woman because she is quiet and modest and basically quite boring, but she does hold firm to her values)
Emma 4.5⭐️ (I’ve always loved Emma but she’s kind of annoying on the re-read)
Northanger Abbey 2⭐️ (I’d never read this one before and I don’t really get what the point is supposed to be).
Persuasion 4⭐️ (I love how it all ends. Captain Frederick such a swoon. Kind of drawn out though for no reason).

[Margaret Chind]

I have spent today, Good Friday (2021), coughing from allergies and drainage, attempting to start a new cross stitch project, mothering allergy cranky babes, and listening to Sense and Sensibility—narrated by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, occasionally bookmarking myself with Sense and Sensibility. I've read it before I'm sure, I have read the main books, as well as seen film renditions a million times. I never realized before just how many of the storylines overlapped with a similarity. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is an excellent narrator and I could listen to her tell a story all day, and apparently, I now have. Currently at 82% read of Sense & Sensibility.

I own individual books, Kindle eBooks, and treasury editions of Jane Austen. I'm listening to The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama through Audible in the Audible + Catalog.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, I've listened only to Pride and Prejudice. Really liked the narration by Claire Foy — and it's not just a narration, but rather a performance, complete with sound effects.

I read P&P in 2015 and said that I LOVED it. I enjoyed it even more this time. I had forgotten a lot. Or maybe it's a slightly different book each time one reads it. I think it improves greatly with a reader's age. That's my experience, anyway.

[Julianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed listening to this free audiobook compilation when I was out feeding horses or doing chores. I am not very familiar with Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, or Persuasion, so I really liked hearing those stories. It made me realize that it’s been too long since I read any of Jane Austen’s books, and I kind of wish that I had listened to an unabridged version. There were a few moments that I didn’t like the voices used for characters, but I always grew accustomed to it as the story went on. Overall, I really enjoyed listening! I definitely want to revisit Persuasion.

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the dramatization!

[Julia M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible narration!

[Melody]

Those are dramatised abridged version of Jane Austen's main novels.

Listened so far :

- Persuasion : 4 stars